Yamari (gshin rje gshed) is a male wrathful meditational deity (yidam, ishtadevata) of the Anuttayoga Class of Tantric literature. There are three divisions or sections of literature and deity forms: Rakta (red) Yamari, Krishna (black) Yamari and Vajrabhairava (terrifying). The Krishna Yamari can be divided first into two main types: New Tantras (Sarma) and Old Tantras (Nyingma). Both of these traditions have numerous forms and appearances of the deity as well as numerous lineages of practice descending from those forms. In the Nyingma Tradition the two terms 'Yamari' (gshin rje gshed) and 'Yamantaka' (gshin rje thar byed) are often used interchangeably and the majority, if not all, of the different forms of Krishna Yamari arise from the 'Revealed Treasure' Tradition (Terma) rather than the Oral Tradition (Kama). For the Sarma Traditions of Sakya, Kagyu, Jonang, etc., the Krishna Yamari lineages of practice arise from the Tantric literature of India, namely the Krishna Yamari Tantra [Toh 467].

Krishna Yamari, as discovered through the process of 'Revealed Treasure', is a popular meditational deity of the Nyingma Tradition. Yamari has also gained popularity within various Kagyu Traditions such as the Drigung. The Sarma and Terma versions of Krishna Yamari can differ in overall general appearance, faces and arms, and differ with regard to hand attributes, consort and mount. Some forms of Krishna Yamari in the 'terma' tradition have wings following the model of the Eight Heruka Deities.